Flute quartet
Encyclopedia
A flute quartet is a musical term for a type of chamber music group
. They are normally found in two forms: those consisting of a flute
, a violin
, a viola
and a cello
; and those consisting of four flutes. This last combination often comes in three different but distinct arrangements:
, violin
, viola
and cello
include those by the following composers:
The interest of the enthusiasts in arrangements of flute with string trio, which at times rivaled the popularity of the string quartet, is shown by contemporary transcriptions of string quartets by publishers, for instance, the quartets of Haydn. Gioacchino Rossini
also transcribed six of his Sonate a quattro (originally for strings).
In the first decades of the 19th century, the string quartet
became far more important than the flute quartet; as a result, very few new works were composed until the 20th century
. Until the works of Volkmar Andreae
(quartet Op. 43) and Gottfried von Einem
(quartet Op. 85), the 20th century was also somewhat lacking in compositions of this type.
(quartet in E major) and Anton Reicha
(quartets Op. 12, Op. 19). Further quartets came from, for example, Friedrich Hartmann Graf
, Anton Bernhard Fürstenau
and Luigi Gianella.
(quartet Op. 106), Josef Lauber (vision de Corse, Op. 54), Marc Berthomieu (Arcadie), Joseph Jongen
(Elégie, Op. 114.3), Alexander Tcherepnin
(Quatuor pour flûtes Op. 60 - 1939), and Colonial Sketches (1940) by Sol B. Cohen.
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
. They are normally found in two forms: those consisting of a flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, a viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
; and those consisting of four flutes. This last combination often comes in three different but distinct arrangements:
- a group of four C flutes; or
- a group of three C flutes and Alto fluteAlto fluteThe alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
; or - a group consisting of two C flutes, Alto and Bass fluteBass fluteThe bass flute is the bass member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Because of the length of its tube , it is usually made with a "J" shaped head joint, which brings the embouchure hole within reach of the player...
(this last grouping is the closest comparable equivalent of a string quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
for four flutes).
Works for Flute, Violin, Viola and Cello
This form is closely related to the string quartet, but with a flute in place of the first violin. It is generally believed that this type of chamber music reached its pinnacle around the middle of the second half of the 18th century. Notable works for flute quartets consisting of a fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
include those by the following composers:
- Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
- four flute quartets:- No. 1 in D majorFlute Quartet No. 1 (Mozart)The Flute Quartet No. 1 in D major, K. 285, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for flute, violin, viola, and cello, the first of three quartets for the amateur Ferdinand De Jean, was probably written between 1777 and 1778.It is in three movements :...
(K.Köchel-VerzeichnisThe Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
285) - No. 2 in G majorFlute Quartet No. 2 (Mozart)The Flute Quartet No. 2 in G major, K. 285a, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the second of three quartets for the amateur flautist Ferdinand De Jean, and was likely written between 1777 and 1778; indeed, the composition is listed directly after the Flute Quartet No...
(K. 285a) - No. 3 in C majorFlute Quartet No. 3 (Mozart)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Flute Quartet No. 3 in C major, K. 285b, is the final of three quartets for the amateur flautist Ferdinand De Jean. Despite following directly after the first two flute quartets in the Köchel catalogue, the Quartet in C was almost certainly written a few years later,...
(K. 285b) - No. 4 in A majorFlute Quartet No. 4 (Mozart)The Flute Quartet No. 4 in A major, K. 298, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is Mozart's final composition for flute quartet. Unlike the previous three quartets, written for the flutist Ferdinand De Jean, the Quartet in A is believed to have been written for recreational purposes, as opposed to on...
(K. 298)
- No. 1 in D major
- Johann Christian BachJohann Christian BachJohann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
- Christian CannabichChristian CannabichJohann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich , was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era...
- Domenico CimarosaDomenico CimarosaDomenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school...
- Franz DanziFranz DanziFranz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the noted Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi. Born in Schwetzingen, Franz Danzi worked in Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where he died....
- François DevienneFrançois DevienneFrançois Devienne was a French composer and professor for flute at the Paris Conservatory.François Devienne was born in Joinville , as the youngest of fourteen children of a saddlemaker...
- Adalbert GyrowetzAdalbert GyrowetzVojtěch Matyáš Jírovec was a Bohemian composer.- Biography :...
- Josef Haydn
- Franz KrommerFranz KrommerFranz Krommer was a Czech composer of classical music, whose seventy-year life began the year of the death of George Frideric Handel and ended a few years after that of Ludwig van Beethoven.-Life:The main events of his life were somewhat as follows:* From 1773 to 1776,...
- Friedrich KuhlauFriedrich KuhlauFriedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age....
- Ignaz PleyelIgnaz PleyelIgnace Joseph Pleyel , ; was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.-Early years:...
- Anton ReichaAnton ReichaAnton Reicha was a Czech-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz...
- Carlo Giuseppe Toeschi
- Georg Abraham Schneider - First Grand Quartet Op.68 in E♭ Major (as well as 32 additional flute quartets).
- Adolphe F. Wouters - Adagio and Scherzo (1895)
The interest of the enthusiasts in arrangements of flute with string trio, which at times rivaled the popularity of the string quartet, is shown by contemporary transcriptions of string quartets by publishers, for instance, the quartets of Haydn. Gioacchino Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
also transcribed six of his Sonate a quattro (originally for strings).
In the first decades of the 19th century, the string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
became far more important than the flute quartet; as a result, very few new works were composed until the 20th century
20th century music
20th century music is defined by the sudden emergence of advanced technology for recording and distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in musical forms and styles...
. Until the works of Volkmar Andreae
Volkmar Andreae
Volkmar Andreae was a Swiss conductor and composer.Andreae was born in Bern. He received piano instruction as a child and his first lessons in composition with Karl Munzinger. From 1897 to 1900, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory and was a student of Fritz Brun, Franz Wüllner, and Friedrich...
(quartet Op. 43) and Gottfried von Einem
Gottfried von Einem
Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.-Biography:...
(quartet Op. 85), the 20th century was also somewhat lacking in compositions of this type.
19th Century
Works for four flutes were particularly popular at the turn of the 19th century. Some of the most well-known from this time might include the compositions of Friedrich KuhlauFriedrich Kuhlau
Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age....
(quartet in E major) and Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha was a Czech-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz...
(quartets Op. 12, Op. 19). Further quartets came from, for example, Friedrich Hartmann Graf
Friedrich Hartmann Graf
Friedrich Hartmann Graf was a German flautist and composer.Friedrich Hartmann Graf was born 23 August 1727 in Rudolstadt. He was trained by his father Johann Graf and then served as a drummer in a Dutch army regiment where he was taken as a prisoner of war by the English...
, Anton Bernhard Fürstenau
Anton Bernhard Fürstenau
Anton Bernhard Fürstenau was a German flutist and composer. He was the most famous virtuoso in Germany on his instrument and the most important Romantic flutist of the first half of the nineteenth century...
and Luigi Gianella.
Early 20th Century
In the 20th century, quartets with four flutes experienced a renaissance. This type of arrangement, with its specific, light tone color, especially appealed to the French wind tradition. Examples of some works from the early 20th century include those of Florent SchmittFlorent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt was a French composer.-Early life:A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the local composer Gustave Sandré. Subsequently he entered the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois,...
(quartet Op. 106), Josef Lauber (vision de Corse, Op. 54), Marc Berthomieu (Arcadie), Joseph Jongen
Joseph Jongen
Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator.-Biography:Jongen was born in Liège. On the strength of an amazing precocity for music, he was admitted to the Liège Conservatoire at the extraordinarily young age of seven, and spent the next sixteen years...
(Elégie, Op. 114.3), Alexander Tcherepnin
Alexander Tcherepnin
Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian-born composer and pianist. His father, Nikolai Tcherepnin and his son, Ivan Tcherepnin were also composers, as are two of his grandsons, Sergei and Stefan. His son Serge was involved in the roots of electronic music and instruments...
(Quatuor pour flûtes Op. 60 - 1939), and Colonial Sketches (1940) by Sol B. Cohen.
Late 20th Century
The late 20th Century saw a new revival for the flute quartet, including these works:- Eugène BozzaEugène BozzaEugène Joseph Bozza was a French composer.Bozza studied composition, conducting, and violin at the Paris Conservatoire. He is known primarily for his chamber music. Bozza's work includes five symphonies, operas, ballets, and many pieces for brass ensemble...
Jour d'été à la montagne (1953) - Peter Bacchus Quartet for Diverse Flutes (1985)
- Marc Berthomieu Les Chats (1969) (Berthomieu wrote four other flute quartets as well)
- Jacques CastérèdeJacques CastérèdeJacques Castérède is a French composer.He studied at Lycée Buffon in Paris. He gained his baccalaureat in elementary mathematics, before he entered Paris National Conservatory of Music in 1944 and began studying piano under Armand Ferté, composition under Tony Aubin, analysis under Olivier Messiaen...
Flûtes en vacances (1962) - Ingolf DahlIngolf DahlIngolf Dahl was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator.-Biography:Born in Hamburg, Germany to a German father and a Swedish mother, his birth name was Walter Ingolf Marcus. He studied with Philipp Jarnach at the Hochschule für Musik Köln...
Serenade for Four Flutes (1960) (Boosey & HawkesBoosey & HawkesBoosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
) - Pierre Max DuboisPierre Max DuboisPierre Max Dubois was a French composer of classical music. He was a student of Darius Milhaud, and though not widely popular, was respected. He brought the ideas of Les Six, of which his instructor was a member, into the middle 1900's. This group called for a fresh artistic perspective on music...
Quatuor pour flûtes (1961/2) - David Evan JonesDavid Evan JonesDavid Evan Jones is a composer of chamber music, opera, and computer music, and professor of music at UCSC. His notable compositions include Scritto, which features digitally manipulated vowel sounds. He has also written one chamber opera, Bardos, which premiered in Seoul, South Korea in 2004.-...
Tibae (Solo for Four) (1983) - Serge Lancen Quatres Flûtes en Balade (1970) (ChappellChappellChappell may refer to:Places:* Chappell, Nebraska* Chappell on the moon* Mount Chappell Island, Tasmania, Australia* North West Mount Chappell Islet, Tasmania, AustraliaPeople:* The Chappell family of Australian cricketers:...
) - Paule MauricePaule MauricePaule Maurice was a French composer born in Paris September 29, 1910 to Raoul Auguste Alexandre Maurice and Marguerite Jeanne Lebrun and died August 18, 1967 in Paris. Her full name was Paule Charlotte Marie Jeanne Maurice...
Suite pour quatuor de flûtes (1967)) - Roger ReynoldsRoger ReynoldsRoger Reynolds is an American composer born July 18, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He is a professor at the University of California at San Diego. He received an undergraduate degree in engineering physics from the University of Michigan where he later studied composition with Ross Lee Finney...
Four Etudes (1961) Edition PetersEdition PetersEdition Peters, also known as C.F.Peters Musikverlag, is a German music publishing house, founded in Leipzig in 1800.From the 1860s it was largely run by members the Hinrichsen family, who were Jewish. The company was confiscated by the Nazis and administered by the "Trustee of Jewish Property".... - R. Murray SchaferR. Murray SchaferRaymond Murray Schafer is a Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World...
Five Studies on Texts by Prudentius (for four flutes and soprano). (Berandol Music)
- Alexander ShchetynskyAlexander ShchetynskyAlexander Shchetynsky is a Ukrainian composer. Born on 22 June 1960 in Kharkiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. His work list includes compositions in various forms ranging from solo instrumental to orchestral, choral pieces and operas....
Con Re for Four Flutes, Alto Saxophone, Violin and Cello (2002) - Harvey SollbergerHarvey SollbergerHarvey Sollberger is an American composer, flutist, and conductor specializing in contemporary classical music.-Life:...
Grand Quartet for Flutes (1961) (McGinnis & Marx) - Preston Trembly Cantelena (1975)